Mark H

Software developer, keen photographer, Portsmouth fan, Patriots fan.
You know, I seem to recall Paul saying something like he'd put arrangements in place to keep FriendFeed running after his departure. A self-replicating, incapable-of-destruction niche social network is exactly the sort of thing he'd do.
It's the one Italian user Isola Virtuale wrote a horror story about. - lester
I'd love it if this was true - Iain Baker
Do no evil. - Jemm
Guys you're ciurling in the manico - djangol judas
Farewell.
ARE YOU PASSING BALLS WITH US? - Akiva
Thanks FF for Mark but now I need to watch Buffy and pass out. - Jenny H.
GUYS? IT'S LIKE GEOCITIES ALL OVER AGAIN! - Big Joe Silenced
"From the fun 70's Ready-Set-Grow book series, A Kid's TV Guide deals with watching television intelligently, and teaches that TV can be a very good thing if it is wisely and properly controlled. It also teaches how tv can be a bad thing by causing people to want things that are not good for them, to escape from reality, to be passive and uncreative, or even to become violent. Be smart, don't let the tv control you!" - Mark H
My friend has produced a short music video for the Ode To Hubble competition. http://www.youtube.com/watch...
I asked this earlier on other social networks with likes/faves but no answers so I'll ask here: if you're in a pub and someone - staff or punter - drops a glass does everyone else in the venue cheer loudly? This is typical in British pubs but I'm wondering if it's the same the world over.
Not common in Turkey. - O.S.M.
Pounded By The Gay Color Changing Dress - http://www.amazon.com/Pounded...
"Kent is a man with a problem, floundering in the gay dating scene as he looks for something that doesn’t seem to exist, a man who is wild, adventurous and rugged while still being smart, gentle and sophisticated. Just when Kent is certain that he’ll never find the best of both worlds, he meets Channing, a living gay dress who is famous online for appearing black and blue to some, and gold and white to others. It’s not long before Channing shows Kent that it’s all about perspective, in a hardcore gay love affair that will reveal once and for all just what color the dress really is. This erotic tale is 4,400 words of sizzling human on gay dress action, including anal, blowjobs, rough sex, cream pies, and color changing dress love." - Mark H
I can't believe you got to it before my erotic author friend did, but in her defense she just made a move from CA to WA. :) - Spidra Webster
In 1960s London World Führer Colin Johnson And "Colored" Immigrants Rocked British Politics - http://flashbak.com/in-1960...
"Colin Jordan was a stalwart of British fascism during its post-war doldrums, and over the following decades he was involved in most of the right-wing parties that subsequently emerged and dissolved." - Mark H
Ladybird Books: The strange things we learned - http://m.bbc.co.uk/news...
"Ladybird Books is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The books delighted children for decades, but what did they teach us and have their lessons stood the test of time?" - Mark H
"Some of the Ladybird books were "incredibly white", says Ms Day. "I've looked through to find out when the first black faces first appear and it's not until the 1960s," she says. "Despite an influx of immigrants welcomed to the UK to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War, there's no mention of that in Ladybird's world," says Prof Zeegan. However, he says the books started to become more representative in the early to mid 1970s. [...] Ms Day said subtle changes were made to the illustrations in later books, including airbrushing a golly from the window of a toy shop." - Mark H
"Ladybird's science books showed activities including stripping the casing from a battery with pliers, using a penknife to shape wood into a propeller and making fire with a magnifying glass. In his book, Prof Zeegan says "it is unthinkable that any children's book publisher today would consider promoting activities in the same way [...] I'm not sure there were any more accidents because of these books, probably not, but certainly nowadays children wouldn't be encouraged, they would probably be positively discouraged from the types of activities that Ladybird featured in this set of books."" - Mark H
Stabbed for a bike on a busy road - https://www.facebook.com/video...
"CCTV has been released of the horrifying moment when 15-year-old, Alan Cartwright, was stabbed to death as he rode his bike with friends. Alan Cartwright and three friends were riding their bikes along Caledonian Road, near the junction of Copenhagen Street, on Friday 27 February at 19:34hrs when , without warning, two suspects stepped off the pavement and lunged at the youths. Almost immediately the first suspect stabbed Alan in the chest, whilst another suspect charged at one of Alan’s friends, knocking him off his bike. Alan managed to continue a short distance before he collapsed." - Mark H
25% of the people have a 4th cone and see colors as they are - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse...
"The color nuances we see depend on the number and distribution of cones (=color receptors) in our eye. You can check this rainbow: how many color nuances do you count?" - Mark H
Hey man, don't harsh my superiority buzz. - Meg VMeg
Delhi bus rapist blames his victim in prison interview - Telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news...
"In an interview from jail, Mukesh Singh said that women who went out at night had only themselves to blame if they attracted the attention of gangs of male molesters. "A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy," he said. His victim, Jyoti Singh, 23, was returning from an evening at the cinema with a male friend when the six-strong gang offered them a lift in a mini-bus they were driving. She was raped and frenziedly beaten with iron bars, prompting widespread demonstrations for Indian women to have greater protection from sexual violence." - Mark H
Vile. Vile Vile Vile. - AHnix (Anna Haro)
Steph Kerr on Twitter: "If you need cheering up, here's a photo of the time my stepmum asked for cheese and biscuits at a hotel." - https://twitter.com/stephke...
I can't stop laughing. - Anika
LOL - Eivind
Hong Kong street light stream - http://www.flickr.com/photos...
Female Soldier Kate Lord Wins Queen's Medal For Battling The Misogyny Of Afghanistan Troops - http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015...
"A female army officer has been given a medal for challenging the "highly misogynistic" views of Afghan soldiers. Staff Sergeant Kate Lord, 32, received the prestigious Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service for challenging the opinions of young men in the Afghan National Army, who accused her of being weak were shocked that her husband would let her go to Afghanistan. Lord trained Afghans in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps, and was praised for helping to tackle the country's "deeply conservative culture"."" - Mark H
"Her award citation says that "nobody in this mission - male or female - has done more to further the standing of women in the Afghan National Army". She said: "Originally I was sent out to mentor women in the Afghan National Army. However, when I got there there were no women because there had been a delay in their recruitment, so I was thrown in the deep end and sent to mentor the men. If I had known I was mentoring the men I probably would have prepared a little bit more perhaps."" - Mark H
""When I first met my mentors I had three and it was a weird reaction. They at first stared for quite some time, they were intrigued with me, then the questions started firing towards me. Very personal questions, so they wanted to know whether I was married or not. They were shocked that my husband would let me go to Afghan on my own with lots of men. Then they started getting onto the physical aspects - because I am small they thought I was weak. I then had the challenge of changing and proving them wrong."" - Mark H
That's awesome. It's also somewhat ironic for the Queen considering Prince Philip's past comments demonstrate his raging misogyny. - Benny Bucko (Josh)
The girl who gets gifts from birds - http://m.bbc.co.uk/news...
"Gabi's relationship with the neighbourhood crows began accidentally in 2011. She was four years old, and prone to dropping food. She'd get out of the car, and a chicken nugget would tumble off her lap. A crow would rush in to recover it. Soon, the crows were watching for her, hoping for another bite. As she got older, she rewarded their attention, by sharing her packed lunch on the way to the bus stop. Her brother joined in. Soon, crows were lining up in the afternoon to greet Gabi's bus, hoping for another feeding session." - Mark H
"The crows would clear the feeder of peanuts, and leave shiny trinkets on the empty tray; an earring, a hinge, a polished rock. There wasn't a pattern. Gifts showed up sporadically - anything shiny and small enough to fit in a crow's mouth. One time it was a tiny piece of metal with the word "best" printed on it. "I don't know if they still have the part that says 'friend'," Gabi laughs, amused by the thought of a crow wearing a matching necklace." - Mark H
"Lisa, Gabi's mom, regularly photographs the crows and charts their behaviour and interactions. Her most amazing gift came just a few weeks ago, when she lost a lens cap in a nearby alley while photographing a bald eagle as it circled over the neighbourhood. She didn't even have to look for it. It was sitting on the edge of the birdbath. Had the crows returned it? Lisa logged on to her computer and pulled up their bird-cam. There was the crow she suspected. "You can see it bringing it into the yard. Walks it to the birdbath and actually spends time rinsing this lens cap. I'm sure that it was intentional," she smiles. "They watch us all the time. I'm sure they knew I dropped it. I'm sure they decided they wanted to return it."" - Mark H
"Weee!....He’s a right dinlo....Dip me ‘ead for a sparsy!...she’s well squinny!" If you cannot understand at least a couple of these expressions then there’s a good chance you’re not from Portsmouth. - Mark H
Thank you! You probably haven't known of my fondness for listening to various forms of British English. :-) - Maitani
Astrology could solve crisis in the NHS, says (complete imbecile) Tory MP - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news...
"A Tory MP has claimed NHS over-crowding could be solved by doctors using astrology to treat patients. David Tredinnick said consulting the stars would "take huge pressure off doctors" and predicts astrology will "have a role to play in healthcare." The MP for Bosworth in Leicestershire also admitted he had prepared astrological charts for fellow MPs. In an interview with this month's Astrological Journal, the controversial MP said: "There would be a huge row over resources. However, I do believe that astrology and complementary medicine would help take the huge pressure off doctors."" - Mark H
Um, no. - Back to just Joe
Illustrator Creates Pop-Culture Doodles In His Moleskine Notebook - http://designtaxi.com/news...
"Philippines-based illustrator Kerby Rosanes is back with more of his amazing black ink doodles. Drawn in his trusty Moleskine, his new works feature various pop-culture characters such as Loki, The Joker, and Venom—as well as wild animals like a sabretooth tiger, a fox, and an owl." - Mark H
If that's a doodle... - Heather
When Peter Hicks electrocuted traffic wardens in London and how we learned to love him - http://flashbak.com/when-pe...
"On February 23 1963 Peter Hicks [...] parked his Land Rover in Marylebone. A police constable passing by heard a ticking noise emanating from the vehicle. He looked inside. He touched the door. And he received an electric shock. The officer called his sergeant over. He too touched the car. He too received a jolt. Mr Hicks had been watching. He approached the policemen and revealed that he had wired his Land Rover to a device normally used to electrify cattle fences. He saw his vehicle as his property. To keep wandering hands off, he had electrified it. His orginial enemy targets were thieves but he’d moved on to traffic wardens, who had been introduced to London on September 19 1960 and were costing him over £30 a week in fines." - Mark H
"Mr Hicks wanted to deter these new traffic cops. And if he could have some fun in the process, all to the good. As his son would recall: 'He actually used to deliberately drive around and park his Land Rover in the West End and then go and sit in a pub or a restaurant. He’d get himself a nice window table and park very obviously – and illegally – outside. He and his mates would sit there having a drink or two and a nice bit of lunch watching them trying to ticket his vehicle.' As well as a Land Rover, Mr Hicks operated a fleet of 50 lorries. To protect them and extend his range, Mr Hicks parked his lorries metal bumper to metal bumper behind his Land Rover. Touch any of them and you got a shock. He told the Press: 'Until somebody tells me what law I’m breaking I shall keep up my private war. I have plenty more of these lovely machines. I’ve watched quite a few wardens cop it, trying to put a ticket on my truck. They gave up in disgust – and shock! [it's] harmless, apart from a bit of a flash and a nasty jog.'" - Mark H
space1970: PLANET OF THE APES (1968) Door Posters - http://space1970.blogspot.co.uk/2015...
"Among the plethora of promotional material created by 20th Century Fox for the original 1968 Planet Of The Apes were these two-color "door panel" posters for theaters, introducing various characters from the film. This kind of giant poster was fairly prevalent in the 60s (I've seen similar ones for the Bond films and other flicks), but became less common in the 70s as studios continued to cut costs on this kind of promotion." - Mark H
Parents Giving Bleach Enemas To Cure Their Children Of Autism? Yeah, That’s A Thing - http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/weird-n...
"Parents are using bleach enemas/drinks to try to cure their children of autism. They force the bleach solution into their own children orally or via enemas — both of which can cause serious health issues. Parents report their children fighting, screaming and writhing in pain. The monsters who sell the product online say it’s a miracle cure. The sane population calls it child abuse." - Mark H
seriously, people do this? - Halil
Went out for a walk into town to pick up some bath products from Lush. As is our way we ended up hitting one or more-than-one pubs on the walk back home. At the third pub we had a long talk about a number of things which led to me saying "That will make a good #SaturdayFF anecdote for Friendfeed."
Sadly, further pubs leapt up and interrupted the ensuing return home and despite a probing of our collective memories neither of us can now remember what it was. I'm sure it was going to be quite good. - Mark H
You guys are like our spirit couple. Yes, I'm at the pub and I've had many glasses of wine and whisky sours, but whatever. We need to get together! - Jenny H.
Indeed we do. - Mark H
Video: Police body camera shows 'sickening' attack on female officer - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news...
"Hampshire Police release footage of a "shocking and brutal" attack on one of their female officers who had her head repeatedly banged on the ground" - Mark H
The video also auto-plays at the article (yikes.) - Jennifer Dittrich
Learning BASIC with the Marvel Super Heroes - http://blog.paxholley.net/2011...
Why is the BBC just so bad at TV news? - http://www.independent.co.uk/news...
"On 8 February, a riot erupted in Cairo in which 40 football fans were killed after a clash with police. At 9pm that evening I turned on Al Jazeera, to see what they were making of it. The answer was a lot, and they cleared their schedule to tell it. Having carried a major – and in retrospect, prophetic – documentary about the simmering anger among excluded Zamalek fans just two days previously, they were well placed to tell us what this event might portend." - Mark H
"Over on the BBC's dedicated news channel – formerly known as BBC News 24 – the lead item at 9pm was pensioner bonds, followed at a quick trot by reports on Prince Charles's fogeyish thoughts about Islamist militancy; on the Ukraine; on hospital trust finances; on Labour promises and Tory rejoinders; and on Tony Abbott's shaky majority in the Australian parliament (all repeats of items much repeated throughout that day). Then we joined a beaming Jane Hill on the red carpet at the Royal Opera House for a gushing 15-minute report on the BAFTA awards, after which a weather woman told us that the coming week would be "mostly dry, often cloudy"; more weather people then promised that they would be telling us what clothes we should wear. Then came a trail for Lucy Worsley's latest country-house frolic, then it was time for an "Our World" documentary repeated from the previous night. The Cairo riot did make it into the BBC's 10pm bulletin, but only after yet more repeats of the tired old repeats and in strikingly perfunctory form." - Mark H
Earth does not revolve around the Sun after all. http://www.youtube.com/watch...
I, for one, am very convinced by the arguments put forward by Saudi Preacher Bandar Al-Khaybari. - Mark H
Both the Quran and the little plastic water container seem to support his case. - Eivind
Today's Top 7 Myths about Daesh/ ISIL - http://www.juancole.com/2015...
"The self-styled ‘Islamic State’ Group (ISIS or ISIL), the Arabic acronym for which is Daesh, is increasingly haunting the nightmares of Western journalists and security analysts. I keep seeing some assertions about it that strike me as exaggerated or as just incorrect." - Mark H
"3. Massive numbers of fighters have gone to join Daesh since last summer. Actually, the numbers are quite small proportionally. British PM David Cameron ominously warned that 400 British Muslim youth had gone off to fight in Syria. But there are like 3.7 million Muslims in the UK now! So .000027 percent of the community volunteered. They are often teens, some are on the lam from petty criminal charges, and many come back disillusioned. You could get 400 people to believe almost anything. It isn’t a significant statistic. Most terrorism in Europe is committed by European separatist groups– only about 3% is by Muslims. Cameron is just trying to use such rhetoric to avoid being outflanked on his right by the nationalist UKIP. One of the most active Daesh Twitter feeds turns out to be run by an Indian worker in a grocery chain in Bangalore who lived in his parents’ basement and professed himself unable to volunteer for Syria because of his care giving chores. Daesh is smoke and mirrors." - Mark H
Vintage Portraits of Female Criminals from the Early 1900s - http://www.vintag.es/2014...
"A fascinating look into the world of women and crime, including murderers, bandits, crooks and mob wives, from the Tribune's 4x5 glass-plate and acetate negative archive during the early 1900s." - Mark H
Two people we know who've lived together for a decade announced they are engaged to be married. It'll be in 32 months. This strikes me as a smidge on the long side.
A bit long, but they don't seem to be in a rush anyhow. :) - Heather
We gave people 16 months and many still couldn't figure out how to make it to the wedding. Doubling it up seems fine to me. - Michael W. May
Not super engaged, then. - Eivind